The Corus chess festival, held annually in January at the small Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee, is gathering a reputation as the premier event on the international chess calendar. Not just because the strength of the players in the the A tournament rivals that of any other, but also because the players invited are chosen for their fighting qualities. The result is usually a display of great chess battles and this year was no exception.
Top seeds in the A tournament, Veselin Topalov (BUL) and Vishy Anand (IND), continued their rivalry for the top spot in chess since the retirement of Garry Kasparov. Both scored a phenomenal 9/13 with six wins and one loss apiece to finish tied for 1-2, a point and a half clear of Michael Adams (ENG) and Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) in places 3-4. Anand claimed the trophy on tie-break and finally pushed his FIDE rating beyond the 2800 barrier - only the 4th player in history to do so, after Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Topalov. Both Anand and Topalov attributed their performance to the spur of having to match the other, which promises more great battles to come.
Today's game is from the final round of Wijk aan Zee and features the recent FIDE World Cup winner Levon Aronian of Armenia displaying the power of modern grandmaster preparation with White against Ivan Sokolov of the Netherlands.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5
An old and venerable line of the Slav Defence Krause Attack – dating back to the 1929 Carlsbad tournament. 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 f6 12.0-0 Nc5
This move and White's reply begin a sequence of much more recent pedigree – White's idea is to use threats against the loose Black pieces to rapidly launch a minority pawn attack on the Queenside and involves a pawn sacrifice. 13.Ne3!? Bg6 14.b4 Ne6 15.Qb3 Bf7 16.Qb1 Nxf4 17.gxf4 Ng6 18.b5 Qxf4 19.Rd1 Bd6
All this has been played before, but White has prepared a radical answer to the threat of Qxh2+... 20.Rxd6! Qxd6 21.bxc6 0-0
Already giving back two pawns, otherwise 21... bxc6 22 Nb5! Qd7 23 Qb4! traps the Black king in the centre and subjects it to a violent assault. 22.Nb5 Qc5 23.cxb7 Rab8 24.Qf5 Ne5
With the Black king castled, the b7 pawn is now the key to White's attack. By allowing an exchange of queens Black would quickly lose the b8 rook for a knight. 25.Qc2 Qb6 26.Qc7 Rfd8 27.Rc1 Qa6 28.Nf5 Qb6
Black's defences can hold out no longer. It's possible that the following queen sacrifice was part of White's opening preparation, maybe the whole game – But what preparation! 29.Qxb8! Rxb8 30.Rc8+ Qd8 31.Nxa7 Be8 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.Bd5+ Bf7 34.Ne7+ Kf8 35.Nec6
The b-pawn will cost Black a whole rook.
Rivalry at Wijk aan Zee
Problem: White to play and win.
The Corus chess festival, held annually in January at the small Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee, is gathering a reputation as the premier event on the international chess calendar. Not just because the strength of the players in the the A tournament rivals that of any other, but also because the players invited are chosen for their fighting qualities. The result is usually a display of great chess battles and this year was no exception.
Top seeds in the A tournament, Veselin Topalov (BUL) and Vishy Anand (IND), continued their rivalry for the top spot in chess since the retirement of Garry Kasparov. Both scored a phenomenal 9/13 with six wins and one loss apiece to finish tied for 1-2, a point and a half clear of Michael Adams (ENG) and Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) in places 3-4. Anand claimed the trophy on tie-break and finally pushed his FIDE rating beyond the 2800 barrier - only the 4th player in history to do so, after Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Topalov. Both Anand and Topalov attributed their performance to the spur of having to match the other, which promises more great battles to come.
Today's game is from the final round of Wijk aan Zee and features the recent FIDE World Cup winner Levon Aronian of Armenia displaying the power of modern grandmaster preparation with White against Ivan Sokolov of the Netherlands.
1.d4 d5
2.c4 c6
3.Nf3 Nf6
4.Nc3 dxc4
5.a4 Bf5
6.Ne5 Nbd7
7.Nxc4 Qc7
8.g3 e5
An old and venerable line of the Slav Defence Krause Attack – dating back to the 1929 Carlsbad tournament.
9.dxe5 Nxe5
10.Bf4 Nfd7
11.Bg2 f6
12.0-0 Nc5
This move and White's reply begin a sequence of much more recent pedigree – White's idea is to use threats against the loose Black pieces to rapidly launch a minority pawn attack on the Queenside and involves a pawn sacrifice.
13.Ne3!? Bg6
14.b4 Ne6
15.Qb3 Bf7
16.Qb1 Nxf4
17.gxf4 Ng6
18.b5 Qxf4
19.Rd1 Bd6
All this has been played before, but White has prepared a radical answer to the threat of Qxh2+...
20.Rxd6! Qxd6
21.bxc6 0-0
Already giving back two pawns, otherwise 21... bxc6 22 Nb5! Qd7 23 Qb4! traps the Black king in the centre and subjects it to a violent assault.
22.Nb5 Qc5
23.cxb7 Rab8
24.Qf5 Ne5
With the Black king castled, the b7 pawn is now the key to White's attack. By allowing an exchange of queens Black would quickly lose the b8 rook for a knight.
25.Qc2 Qb6
26.Qc7 Rfd8
27.Rc1 Qa6
28.Nf5 Qb6
Black's defences can hold out no longer. It's possible that the following queen sacrifice was part of White's opening preparation, maybe the whole game – But what preparation!
29.Qxb8! Rxb8
30.Rc8+ Qd8
31.Nxa7 Be8
32.Rxd8 Rxd8
33.Bd5+ Bf7
34.Ne7+ Kf8
35.Nec6
The b-pawn will cost Black a whole rook.
1-0
Solution: 1 Rxe6! wins the knight (1 ... fxe6 2 Bxe6+ Kg7 3 Qxd8)